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NDP: Canada must end child poverty

OTTAWA – Almost 30 years ago, the House of Commons passed an NDP motion to eliminate child poverty in Canada. To this day, a shockingly high percentage of Canadian children still live below the poverty line. A report from Campaign 2000 has revealed the current levels of child poverty in Canada, including a rate of 40% of children living in poverty in the riding of Toronto Centre, held by the millionaire Finance Minister, Bill Morneau.

“The Liberals have been in power for three years, and although they promised to lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty, the Campaign 2000 report showed that nearly 1.2 million children still live under the poverty line. The government said they would establish a dedicated poverty reduction strategy before the end of their mandate, but we are still waiting for this promise to be upheld,” said Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP Critic for Families, Children, and Social Development.

Many areas with a large Indigenous population face even higher rates of child poverty, rates which have not significantly decreased since the Liberals were elected.

“My riding is home to people of incredible resilience, but so many children are facing devastating poverty and third world conditions. This didn’t just happen. This is the product of colonialism and ongoing chronic underfunding by the federal government,” said Niki Ashton (Churchill-Keewatinook-Aski). “In a country as wealthy as Canada, it is unacceptable that children are living in poverty.”